Equibit, a peer-to-peer equity marketplace, closed its initial coin offering (ICO) on March 31st and has sold USD $585,007 (CAD $782,710) worth of equibits, or EQBs.

"We’re very pleased that the ICO has crowdfunded a significant amount for us to hit our initial development milestones," said Equibit CEO Chris Horlacher. "We're thrilled to see the value of the Equibit system validated by the community. Big things are on the horizon and it's all thanks to our early supporters."

According to the official release, all purchased equibits will automatically be deposited into user accounts at EDC’s web-wallet service launching this summer. EQB tokens may be traded between users and, upon authorization by an issuer, represent an equity or debt interest in a designated company. The remaining equibits from the sale will be held by Equibit Development Corporation (EDC), as per the sale's terms and conditions.

Equibit said that it will now move into the next phase of its roadmap – the release of its Github repository for both the EDC Web Portfolio, or wallet, and Equibit Core, needed for full Equibit mining.

EDC has retained the services of Bitovi, a prominent Chicago-based design and development firm, to develop the Web Portfolio trading platform. The first version of the Web Portfolio is slated for launch in June.

“We’re really excited to be involved at base level with a high-profile project like Equibit,” said Bitovi CTO Brian Moschel. “Chris and Marc have a strong vision for what a successful blockchain application looks like, and I think EDC is on the right path to lead the industry.”

Furthermore, project discovery and preliminary design work for a minimum viable product is underway, led by EDC Chief Technology Officer Marc Godard, the release said.